Alexandria Gazette Packet

David Mercer has been initiating projects and expanding them into meaningful life changing events for others all of his life whether it was establishing his own traveling soccer team, helping write the landmark Condominium Act of Virginia, or setting up alcoholism rehab education and clinics for lawyers. “It’s easier to start something; you can call the shots,” he says. 

Mercer was born and raised in Alexandria where he excelled at sports and made significant contributions. He remembers it all goes back to fifth grade at George Mason Elementary School where he gravitated to football.

He says, “I think I picked football because I’m blind in my right eye and don’t have depth perception but if they handed you the football, you just ran.” He says he played basketball until Junior Varsity but then he just wasn’t tall enough. But he said he was also a sprinter, another sport that worked with just one eye.

But he does remember one game against Groveton High School. “I think I got the ball on the kickoff. I got hit hard and got a concussion. I ran in the wrong direction and scored for the other team.”

But Mercer went on to become a multi-varsity sport letterman and captain of the track and football teams. He went on to Hampden Sydney College where he started on the varsity team as a freshman.

Mercer’s three children carried on the sports tradition with his daughter Kelly attending college on a track scholarship, “and she still holds the record for the 800 meter in high school.” Kristen played soccer at Mary Washington, and Clark was a goalkeeper at TC Williams and a punter at Yale. Mercer’s wife Nell was a synchronized swimmer and on the field hockey team.

Mercer carried on his interest in sports as an adult where he coached the Alexandria youth soccer team for seven years, and he started his own travel soccer team where he served as the team coach and administrator.  Mercer was asked to be an inaugural member of the City of Alexandria Athletic Hall of Fame Committee due to his accomplishments.

Mercer began his legal career in 1973 and again took the lead in another direction as a key drafter of the Condominium Act of Virginia where he took a niche industry to becoming a commonplace organization. He led again by initiating the conversion of the Parkfairfax Apartments to condominiums in the 1970s, quite an achievement since it was the largest apartment to condominium conversion in the United States. He worked with the city to put on pro bono clinics which helped many to be able to own their own first homes.

Mary Horner, Division Chief, Landlord Tenant Division for the City of Alexandria says, “David Mercer’s long-lasting significance stems not only from his professional achievements but also from his unwavering commitment to serving others and giving back to the city and beyond.”

Along the way Mercer says in early 1986 he was asked by his law practice to do something about a problem he had with alcohol. “So I checked into an alcohol rehab center for 30 days. I knew I needed help but when I reached out to the Virginia Bar Association, they had no information on what to do for mental health issues or alcoholism.”

He says, “I realized one of the parts of the rehab program that was critical was to think less of yourself and more of others. It sounded easy to me, and I said ‘I know what I can do.’” He started Lawyers Helping Lawyers speaking at law schools, holding clinics and providing information. “We’ve come a long way since we started with 40 that first night.” He adds, “It’s now a professionally run organization.”

He says his law firm joins the annual food challenge for all law firms in Virginia, and they are always an award winner. “We get our clients to contribute food. You find where you have a soft spot, where you have passion. The food bank is mine.”

Mercer is also proud of breaking a glass ceiling at the Campagna Center, which he says is traditionally a female-led organization. “I was the first male president of the Campagna Center. It’s a perfect organization that helps families who can’t take care of their kids.” He says reading at schools was his favorite thing. “It’s unarguable where you should give your time and money. It’s a real pleasure.”

When asked what he is proudest of, Mercer says, “That’s easy. It’s my wife and family. Nell has stuck with me through thick and thin and my three kids each in their own way are successful and involved with their own children. They are loving and caring and they have a lot going on but we get together — we have seven grandkids. We babysit, drive them.”

Mercer says thoughtfully, “If I hadn’t gone into rehab, I wouldn’t have this life today.”